This ground-breaking and substantive new history considers Richard's reign from a perspective that is as much French as English. Viewing the king himself as a great military commander, it also shows him as a more competent administrator than previously acknowledged. Modern revisionist work allows the authors to correct many misconceptions about Richard's French possessions, and recent scholarship on his rival, Philip Augustus, permits examination of the formidable threat that the resurgent Capetian monarchy represented.

Editors Preface.......................................................................................... VllAuthors' Preface .......................................................................................... ixList of Abbreviations ................................................................................... xiThe historians' balance-sheet ............................................................... 12 The character of the Angevin 'empire' ............................................. 173 The problem of Philip Augustus and growing French royal power .............................................................. 414 Richard's apprenticeship: count of Poitou 1172-89 ......................... 575 Richard's accession and preparations for the Third Crusade .......... 726 Richard's governance of England prior to departure on crusade 7 The government of England during the Third Crusadeand German captivity ...................................................................... 1108 The government of England under Hubert Walter andGeoffrey fitz Peter ............................................................................ 1419 The duchy of Normandy ................................................................. 16310 Greater Anjou .................................................................................. 18111 The duchy of Aquitaine ................................................................... 20012 Richard's warf are following the crusade, 1193-9913 Richard in retrospect MapsGenealogical TableBibliography Index